Category: Transit-Oriented Development

RELEASE: CSG hails today’s Driving Down Emissions report – calls for DC area action

Posted on by Emily Maurer
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PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:

October 14, 2020

Contact:

Stewart Schwartz, 703-599-6437

CSG hails new national climate, land use, and transportation report and issues a Call to Action to regional elected officials

Today, Smart Growth America (SGA) released Driving Down Emissions demonstrating that where and how we grow (i.e. land use and community design) is the critical piece for reducing emissions from transportation. CSG welcomed the report and issued a call to action to regional elected officials to act on their promises and move faster to implement more sustainable land use and transportation in order to fight climate change.

“We welcome this definitive report from SGA,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. We’ve campaigned in the DC region for over two decades for a strong core city and regional network of walkable, transit-oriented communities – a regional vision validated by the findings of the SGA report. Our vision has been embraced by the Council of Governments (COG) and most local officials, and we’ve seen a strong shift to these transportation-efficient communities — but much more work needs to be done AND faster if we are going to do our part to slash emissions.”

“The SGA report highlights that transportation is now the number one source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Its share is even higher in the DC region where 34% of our greenhouse gas emissions are generated by on-road vehicles, and as illustrated by the SGA report it’s the location and design of development that is playing the central role in the amount of driving and emissions,” said Bill Pugh, Senior Policy Fellow for CSG.

“The DC region is at a literal crossroads. Right now, major land use and transportation decisions before our elected officials will determine whether this region fuels more sprawl, driving, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and worsens racial and social equity, OR chooses the course committed to at COG — to invest in transit-oriented development, transit and more affordable housing close to jobs and transit, to address racial and economic inequity, and reduce emissions,” said Jane Lyons, Maryland Advocacy Manager for CSG.

“Massive highway expansion such as the high-occupancy toll lanes in Virginia and Maryland, the recently approved Route 28 bypass in Prince William, and numerous arterial road widenings will mean more driving and emissions, and more spread-out development,” said Sonya Breehey, Virginia Advocacy Manager for CSG. “This must end.”

“Failure to incentivize and prioritize development at Metro stations and in aging commercial corridors will mean failure to reduce driving and emissions,” said Cheryl Cort, Policy Director for CSG. “Meanwhile approving more sprawling development in Prince William’s Rural Crescent or in rural areas in outer suburbs located 30 miles or more from the core of the DC region will mean even more driving and emissions,” said Breehey.

Driving Down Emissions summarizes decades of studies showing that highway expansion actually creates more traffic: “New highways, roads, and lanes induce more driving (VMT), which leads to more emissions and ultimately more congestion, a feedback loop referred to as “induced demand.” A recent study suggests driving increases in exact proportion with increases in lane-mileage—a 10 percent increase in lane miles can lead to a 10 percent increase in driving.”

“SGA offers five recommendations for how we can grow equitably and efficiently to reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions. This region offers examples, which we highlight below, for how we are trying to do this but also examples where we are falling short,” said Pugh.

SGA’s FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS AND A SNAPSHOT ON ACTIONS IN THE DC REGION

1) Meet the demand for homes in walkable, compact neighborhoods

  • Last fall, thanks to years of CSG advocacy, our region adopted a set of regional housing targets to ensure that enough housing is produced by 2030 and that 75% of new units are located in Regional Activity Centers or near high-capacity transit. (MWCOG board resolution, September 11, 2019) 
  • While this is a good start, not all Regional Activity Centers are walkable or compact. Households in the Gainesville activity center in Prince William County, VA drive between 23,000 and 25,000 miles per year on average, while those in the mixed-use Mosaic District of Fairfax County, walking distance from the Metro, drive on average 15,000 to 16,000 miles per year. Households across the entire District of Columbia drive 12,000 miles per year on average, and the share of DC residents who walk, bike and take transit to work is well over 50% of all work trips.
  • The COG 2019 State of the Commute Report shows that 75% of workers in outer suburban locations drive alone to work compared with only 37% in the region’s core jurisdictions (DC, Alexandria, Arlington). 58% of commuters in the core commuted by transit, walking or biking. (MWCOG).

2) Build safer, walkable streets

  • CSG and partners have campaigned for Vision Zero, including street design changes necessary to end deaths and serious injuries for all users.
  • Many local jurisdictions have adopted Vision Zero and Complete Streets policies, added protected bike lanes, and traffic calming, but much more needs to be done as pedestrian deaths in particular continue to increase.
  • Among the many local places we are working, we are currently campaigning in Fairfax for redesign of Richmond Highway (Route 1) and reducing the speed from 45 mph to 35 mph. In this year alone, four people have been killed walking along or trying to cross Richmond Highway.
  • Unfortunately, jurisdictions in the DC region are lagging counterpart regions in Europe and the U.S. in implementing protected bicycle lanes, dedicated bus lanes, and shared streets for people — a need spotlighted during the pandemic.

3) Set targets for VMT and GHG emissions reductions

  • The regional Council of Governments is currently updating its Climate and Energy Action Plan and looking for ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50% below 2005 levels by 2030. We probably need to do even more, and this is a crucial opportunity to set clear targets for reducing both total and per capita vehicle miles traveled to meet our 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal.
  • As detailed in the SGA report, numerous studies have shown that more fuel efficient or fully electric vehicles are not sufficient to meet our transportation climate goals, and we must also reduce the need to drive. The region’s next climate plan and next update of its long-range transportation plan must clearly show how we do this.

4) Provide transportation options and make transit a priority

  • CSG campaigned successfully for the first-ever dedicated funding for Metro with business allies in the MetroNow coalition and is campaigning for Better Buses — focusing on frequent, reliable, and affordable service. CSG won additional funding in Virginia for transit when the state transportation funding structure was amended earlier this year.
  • The Transportation Planning Board, the states of Maryland and Virginia, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and many local governments, are still far too focused on expanding road capacity. 

5) Prioritize connecting people to destinations

  • We’ve learned that accessibility to daily needs is more important than long-distance “mobility.” DC, Arlington, Alexandria, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Falls Church, Tysons and the Mosaic District all show that proximity matters. Creating walkable, bike-friendly, mixed-use communities with frequent transit means that people can drive less and meet their daily needs.
  • The 2016 GreenPlace study by CSG A study of five transit-oriented projects in DC showed daily household VMT and CO2 output per household to be far lower than regional averages. The analysis found that the TOD projects averaged 17 to 25.5 daily VMT per household and 16-25 lbs of daily carbon output per household, compared to regional averages of 45 daily VMT and 69.4 lbs daily carbon output. 
  • The 2010 CSG Cooler Communities study found that a development site with high walkability, mix of uses, and frequent transit service will have reduced CO2 emissions compared with a less accessible site, including in our suburbs. In addition, location, not just design, of development makes a huge difference. Hypothetical relocation of TOD projects to non-TOD suburban locations in the DC region increased CO2 emissions. Conversely, hypothetically relocating a non-TOD suburban development to a suburban TOD location reduced CO2 emissions. For example, the New Carrollton Transit District Plan reduced CO2 emissions by 11.2% when compared against relocating the plan build-out to auto-dependent Konterra. 

A note about the pandemic and telecommuting:

The rise in telecommuting is expected to endure and will represent an estimated 10-15% reduction in work trips after the pandemic. This adds to further support for an end to highway expansion. However, most daily trips will continue to be non-work trips, but this reinforces the need to make all communities more walkable with nearby access to goods, services, and recreation. 

CSG’s Call to Action in the DC Region:

“Unfortunately, we have much more to do in the DC region if we are going to drive down emissions to the levels necessary to stem climate change,” said Schwartz. Among the actions we need from our elected officials are:

1) Every local government needs to accelerate and incentivize transit-oriented development, supported by their state governments. The “Connect Greater Washington” study shows that TOD buildout will maximize the efficiency and farebox recovery for Metro, while reducing vehicle miles traveled and land lost to parking.

2) Every level of government should treat funding for affordable housing as a top infrastructure priority. $100 million for affordable housing near jobs and transit is worth far more than $100 million spent on another ineffective interchange. Housing that is affordable and in the right locations reduces driving and increases walking, biking and transit use, provides family security and health benefits, and results in better educational outcomes for children, while also driving down emissions.

3) Suburban and rural jurisdictions need to stem sprawl, protect farms, forests and rural landscapes that secure our drinking water, while focusing growth in existing towns, and ensuring new communities are compact, built on a grid of local streets, and connected to transit.

4) The next Council of Governments regional Constrained Long-Range Transportation Plan needs to cancel hundreds of lane miles of highway and arterial expansion and shift the funding to transit, local street networks, and bicycle pedestrian investment that support transit-oriented communities. The same is true for the next Northern Virginia Transportation Authority regional plan and state and local jurisdiction plans.

5) Every level of government needs to stop using vehicle level of service and “congestion reduction” as metrics for deciding what transportation investments to make. These measures ignore the real problem of induced demand and make our communities unwalkable and unlivable, leading to more driving and emissions.

“The SGA report confirms what officials in the DC region know and what the vast majority have committed to at COG and at the local level. We need every local elected official to follow-through on these commitments if we are going to grow sustainably, equitably and competitively, and beat climate change in the process,” concluded Schwartz.

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Virtual Stream Walk & Talk

Posted on by Emily Maurer

If you missed our virtual stream walk with the Audubon Naturalist Society and Fairfax County staff, you can watch the presentation here.

From ANS: On September 10th, 2020, Fairfax County staff Charles Smith & JoAnne Fiebe led us on a virtual walk-and-talk of an area around Mount Vernon Plaza, part of Little Hunting Creek, one of the sites of a proposed “ecological spine“. This concept, introduced in Chapter 3 of the Richmond Highway Urban Design Guidelines, envisions how streams can be made part of the community again. Instead of burying streams and building on top of them, how can redevelopment integrate streams and their riparian buffers into walkable, bikeable areas where people and nature can thrive in urban settings?

Tune in to the webinar to hear about the vision for the Route 1 redevelopment and hear about how redevelopment can be tied to creating healthier streams, and therefore a healthier world for us.

Event: A Virtual Walk & Talk Along Little Hunting Creek

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

If you missed our virtual stream walk with the Audubon Naturalist Society and Fairfax County staff, you can watch the presentation here.

From ANS: On September 10th, 2020, Fairfax County staff Charles Smith & JoAnne Fiebe led us on a virtual walk-and-talk of an area around Mount Vernon Plaza, part of Little Hunting Creek, one of the sites of a proposed “ecological spine“. This concept, introduced in Chapter 3 of the Richmond Highway Urban Design Guidelines, envisions how streams can be made part of the community again. Instead of burying streams and building on top of them, how can redevelopment integrate streams and their riparian buffers into walkable, bikeable areas where people and nature can thrive in urban settings?

Tune in to the webinar to hear about the vision for the Route 1 redevelopment and hear about how redevelopment can be tied to creating healthier streams, and therefore a healthier world for us.

Sign-on Letter to the Montgomery Planning Board Re: Thrive 2050 Outreach

Posted on by Emily Maurer
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August 12th, 2020 

Dear Montgomery Planning Board, 

The coalition of organizations and individuals undersigned request additional outreach activities for the upcoming release of the working draft plan of Thrive Montgomery 2050. Many of our organizations have worked with the planning staff and have seen their diligent and innovative ways of conducting outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, community leaders and organizations working with highly impacted communities see an interest and a need to take additional action in order to fully engage all communities. The communities of color that have been the most affected by COVID-19 in our county are the same communities where more Thrive 2050 outreach is needed, and comments are missing. 

It is our understanding that the Montgomery Planning Department intends to release the working draft plan of Thrive Montgomery 2050 on September 24th, hold a Planning Board review meeting on October 1st, hold a public hearing on November 19th, and maybe allow the public to submit comments until two weeks after the public hearing.1 We propose the following extensions, recommendations, and additional outreach strategies. 

• A working draft in both English and Spanish least 30 days before the November public hearing. 

• We ask for a second public hearing that is scheduled 30 to 45 days after the working draft plan has been released in Spanish. 

• Create more live multi-bilingual / bilingual outreach opportunities to have bilingual discussions between community members and planners on all sections of the working draft plan. 

• Conduct in-person outreach that is safe, outdoors, and physically distant, such as at food distribution centers/ hubs and at parks across the county. 

• Create and simultaneously release one-page multilingual informational fact sheets that highlight key sections and points of the working draft plan. Additionally work closely with community organizers to disseminate information and conduct community outreach on the working draft plan. 

We appreciate and thank the Planning Board for the opportunity to provide feedback on the working draft plan. We look forward to continuing to be partners in the Thrive 2050 conversation and find new and innovative ways to conduct outreach. 

1 Thrive 2050 Public Comment Timeline. (Last Updated on August 4th, 2020). Available from: https://montgomeryplanning.org/planning/master-plan-list/general-plans/thrive-montgomery-2050/ 

Sincerely, 

Denisse Guitarra

Maryland Conservation Advocate

Audubon Naturalist Society 

RELEASE: Courageous Conversations discuss the history of racial segregation in Montgomery County

Posted on by Emily Maurer
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, August 10, 2020

CONTACT: Jane Lyons, Coalition for Smarter Growth

jane@smartergrowth.net | (410) 474-0741

Courageous Conversations discuss the history of racial segregation in Montgomery County

Montgomery County, Md. — This Saturday, the Coalition for Smarter Growth will host the first in a series of three Courageous Conversations on Housing, Land Use, and Racism, about the history of redlining and racial segregation in Montgomery County. Over 150 community members are expected to attend and participate in facilitated group discussions.

Each workshop will feature a presentation on the history of discriminatory federal housing policy and an explanation of the local housing and land use history in one of three areas of the county: East County (8/15), Bethesda-Chevy Chase (8/22), and Upcounty (8/29). The workshops are sponsored by Kaiser Permanente and will be facilitated by Challenging Racism. 

After the presentations and small group discussions, Montgomery County residents will share their personal experiences of how racial segregation impacted their lives. 

Robert Stubblefield, a poet and local activist, will share his story about growing up Black in eastern Montgomery County. “One of the things I hope comes out of this is that the past is never past. It is always present. What we experience when we are younger plays a role and influences us every day,” he said. 

The discussion will also cover how residential segregation impacts schools and student experiences. “In Montgomery County, three quarters of our Black and Hispanic students attend our highest poverty public schools, excluding them from myriad opportunities available to lower poverty school students,” said Jill Ortman-Fouse, a former school board member.

Councilmembers Tom Hucker, Andrew Friedson, and Hans Riemer will also share their perspectives on the policy changes that have been made to create a more inclusive county, and what still needs to happen.

Finally, Jane Lyons, the Maryland Advocacy Manager at the Coalition for Smarter Growth, will discuss how residents can continue a dialogue about these issues, including by getting involved with the county’s new general plan update and local organizations advocating for racial justice in land use and housing.

“Many people don’t know the history of how government policy intentionally segregated our neighborhoods, and that legacy continues today,” said Lyons. “In order to plan for the future, we have to understand the history that got us here.”

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The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington, DC region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Our mission is to promote walkable, bikeable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies needed to make those communities flourish.

A big step toward ending Montgomery’s housing moratorium!

Posted on by Emily Maurer

Yesterday, the Planning Board voted to update the county’s draft growth policy (aka the Subdivision Staging Policy), which seeks to time public infrastructure like schools and transportation with population growth. Among other changes, the Planning Board draft would eliminate the counterproductive housing moratorium throughout most of the county, while adjusting fees and taxes to ensure adequate funding to meet increases in school demand.

This decision is thanks, in large part, to you! CSG’s supporters sent over 50 letters to the Planning Board, and our supporters and allies showed up strong at the Planning Board’s public hearing. Check out CSG’s public testimony for more background.

This isn’t the end though — the County Council has the last say. They will review the Planning Board’s recommendations and vote on a new growth policy by November. We’ll keep you updated on actions you can take!

Until then, please consider making a donation to sustain our work advocating for more housing in Montgomery County!

Other changes proposed by the Planning Board:

  • Developers would be required to pay Utilization Premium Payments when a school’s projected utilization three years into the future exceeds 120 percent
  • Impact taxes would be lowered from 120 percent of the cost of a seat to 100 percent, and further lowered to 60 percent in certain areas with high-capacity transit and employment centers
  • Recordation taxes at the time of home sales, would be progressively increased to the to provide additional funding for school construction and affordable housing
  • Any development located in an Opportunity Zone would be exempt from impact taxes
  • Multiple updates to transportation tests would prioritize walking and biking as transportation modes and improve safety
  • And more! If you’re interested, you can find the most up-to-date information here.

Again, thank you to all those who sent in letters or testified! In September, we’ll update you on the Council’s review and hearing schedule so you can join us again in supporting this progressive update to the county’s growth policy.

CSG Testimony Re: Montgomery County Complete Streets Design Guide

Posted on by Emily Maurer

July 21, 2020 

Montgomery County Planning Board

8787 Georgia Ave

Silver Spring, MD 20910 

Item 12 – Complete Streets Design Guide (Support) 

Testimony for July 23, 2020 

Jane Lyons, Maryland Advocacy Manager 

2020.07.21-CSG-Complete-Streets-Design-Guide-Testimony-FinalDownload

Good evening and thank you to Chair Anderson and Planning Commissioners. My name is Jane Lyons and I’m speaking on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the leading organization in the D.C. region advocating for walkable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities. We enthusiastically support the Complete Streets Design Guide. 

Thank you and congratulations to the staff who worked on this project – who has yet again solidified Montgomery Planning as a national leader in creative suburban planning. We are pleased that the Complete Streets Design Guide is clear in prioritizing safety, sustainability, and vitality, and provides a roadmap for how to balance competing needs. When we prioritize street space correctly, streets can become an engine for healthy people, a healthy economy, and a healthy environment. 

The biggest challenge in actualizing safe, green, vibrant streets is reengineering the county’s arterial roads, especially in lower income neighborhoods where traffic fatalities are more common. The vision in Thrive 2050 is for these arterials to become safe, green, multimodal boulevards, and this document will be a critical guide for those changes. 

A few constructive comments: 

• Page 55: We’d like it to be clear that a sidepath is always preferable to bikeable shoulders. 

• Page 57: We recommend that bikeways be listed as a high priority for downtown boulevards, downtown streets, town center boulevards, and town center streets. 

• Page 82: Bus shelters, in addition to BRT stations, should consider opportunities to provide additional passenger amenities such as seating, local area information, wayfinding, and real time traveler information. 

• Page 88: We urge the county to update its policy for snow events. Especially in downtowns and town centers, the county – not the building owners – should be responsible for clearing snow on sidewalks, sidewalk ramps, and sidewalk-level bicycle facilities. 

• Page 232: Public engagement should also include on-the-street direct outreach strategies, as well as strongly encourage paid community focus/advisory groups to ensure diverse input for major decisions. 

• Finally, we ask that the design guide be open to amendment upon the completion of the Pedestrian Master Plan and Vision Zero Action Plan. 

Implementing the Complete Streets Design Guide is key to achieving the county’s Vision Zero goal, as well as improving connectivity and helping shift mode-share away from single occupancy vehicles. We look forward to the comprehensive update of the Master Plan of Highways and Transitways that is necessitated by the guide, along with its implementation throughout new projects, resurfacing, construction, and maintenance. Wherever possible, we encourage the Planning Board, MCDOT, DPS, and the Council to codify the guide into law and regulation. 

Thank you for your consideration.